between heaven & hell
by Polkadotted Lily
Summary: AU. Demons infest the earth, the Croatoan virus is spreading, and the human population is dropping rapidly. Angels join forces with humans, forming bonds between Angels and Hunters to strengthen themselves in battle. Castiel and Dean's bond is put at risk when desperate actions are taken and dangerous choices have to be made to save the ones they care about most.


**Hello, lovely readers. It's been a while since I've written a fanfic, and I hope you enjoy this one as much as I've enjoyed writing it! The idea for this story came from the beautifully made trailer on YouTube created by Sapphiamur (the link can be found on my profile). Please go watch it and give her the incredible feedback she deserves. Without her, this story wouldn't be here.**

**Enjoy!**

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Castiel was seven years old when the nightmare came. He was lying underneath his plush down comforter, fast in a dreamless sleep such as was normal for young Angels, when the terrifying images flashed behind his eyelids. Bright flames of red and orange leaped at him as a pair of sinister yellow eyes locked with his, and he was frozen in place by fear, the overwhelming smell of burning wood and charred flesh assaulting his senses.

A demon.

A twisted smile spread across its sickeningly human face just as a frightened voice pierced through the air.

"Dean!"

His eyes flew to the closet, seeing the doors slam open and a boy much younger than himself, probably three or four, with a mop of brunette hair fling himself out into the blazing room. The demon spun its head, teeth bared, and began to make its way toward the boy.

"No!"

Castiel made a lunge for the boy, his instinct to protect him overwhelming his senses, but a pair of strong, burly arms wrapped around his stomach and held him fast, lifting him into the air and closing the distance between himself and the boy. The arms snatched him up as well and the room spun violently, the demon's angered snarl piercing into his skull. Or maybe it was just the sound of the house burning all around him. He wasn't sure. He squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms tightly around his savior's neck, willing the chaos to only be a nightmare.

He nearly collapsed when his savior released him onto the wooden floor in front of the open door leading outside. Smoke hung in the air as the orange flicker of the flames illuminated his savior's face, revealing an older man with short dark hair, a round face, and dark scruff along his jaw and neckline. And there was an immobilizing fear in his brown, bloodshot eyes.

"I need you to take your brother outside, Dean! Go!"

The man quickly shoved the young boy into Castiel's arms, but he allowed himself an extra second to watch the man spin and race back upstairs before taking the boy's hand and running out onto the front lawn. His heart hammered in his chest and terror coursed through his veins as a woman's scream shattered through the dry summer night.

Castiel's deep blue eyes flew open and he shot upright in his bed, twisting his neck viciously as he scanned the dark room in terror. Sweat drenched his body, causing his white T-shirt to stick to his fragile and bony chest, and his breath was coming out in heavy gasps. Unable to gain control over the emotions whirling in his mind, Castiel choked and tears fell from his eyes. It had all felt so real, the heat from the fire, the consuming fear, the pounding of his heart and legs as he had run out the front door…

"Cas?"

Castiel jolted at the sound of his mother's voice as she pushed open his bedroom door and hurried into the small, dark room, kneeling at his bedside. Her and Castiel had the same shockingly deep blue eyes and dark brunette hair, bordering on black. She had a lean, symmetrical face with creamy skin, smooth lips and dark, full eyelashes. But in that moment there wasn't the beautiful woman she always was, instead replaced by the scared, worried eyes of a mother. The tears came harder as he saw her face looking into his.

"Oh, honey, it's okay," she murmured soothingly, lying down in the bed to Castiel's right and wrapping him tightly in her arms. Her left hand wound around his back and rubbed gently up and down his left forearm while she rested his head against her neck, stroking his damp hair. "What happened, sweetheart?"

Castiel's fear should have subsided now that his mother was holding him, but the nightmare still thrashed in his bones, a fear he knew couldn't be his own. He shook in his mother's arms, unable to control his tremors any more than he could control the frighteningly strong emotions racking his body.

"I had a nightmare," he finally choked out between sobs, and he felt his mother's body tense.

"What was your nightmare about?" she asked, the softness evaporating from her voice.

"There... there was a fire... and a... a demon."

Castiel's mother quickly unwrapped her arms from around him and held him by the shoulders, forcing him to look directly into her stern face.

"What else happened?"

Castiel trembled uncontrollably as he recalled the flames and yellow eyes, the young boy and his savior, the woman's scream that had pulled him from his sleep. His mother's eyes never left his face and she didn't move, but he felt the emotions radiating from her like steam from a boiling cup of water, worry and dread floating off her skin like mist. It was a special Bond that Angels shared with their human mothers to feel each separate emotion she experienced and not just a simple vibe like the other humans he walked by in their compound.

As Castiel was opening his mouth to speak again to ask his mother why he couldn't stop shaking, a searing pain cracked through his skull and a bloodied scream escaped his lips. His bedroom flashed in and out of focus, and the scorching flames consumed his vision once again.

"Dad!" he screamed, running up the front steps towards the door. The woman's scream jolted him into action and he flew into the burning house, the young boy left on the front lawn. "Mom!"

His voice cracked and tears filled his eyes from the intensity of the smoke, but the flames were so hot the tears evaporated before they could escape. The wooden staircase had been consumed in the blaze and everything around him burned. His lungs filled with the heavy smoke as he inhaled a breath and screamed for his mom and dad again.

A loud crack overhead shook the house and he glanced up to see the ceiling above him begin to crumble, but he was paralyzed as he watched the flames lick over the wood.

How could this be happening?

A large figure wrapped his strong arms around him and he was whisked outside just as the ceiling collapsed in a heap of ash and flames. He fought against whoever held him and screamed again for his parents as he was carried away from the house, the tears stinging his eyes and sliding down his ashen cheeks.

"Castiel!"

The burning house collapsed in front of him and he continued to scream as he was consumed in the darkness of his bedroom once again. His mother's arms shook him as she tried to bring him back to focus, but the splitting pain in Castiel's skull and the fire behind his eyes wouldn't release their grip.

"I need to protect him!" Castiel screamed, his pale hands balled into fists against his wet eyes. "I have to protect Dean!"

"Zachariah, please help us," Castiel's mother whispered as she wrapped her arms around her son, tears falling from her face as well.

A sudden gust of wind filled Castiel's bedroom and at the foot of his bed appeared an older man dressed in a black, pinstripe suit, a gray, patterned tie with an equally gray and balding head, and light blue eyes set into a face of stone.

"Audrey, what is the meaning of this?" the man spat, his cold eyes glaring at the two of them on the rumpled bedspread.

"Please, Zachariah, you need to help him," Castiel's mother cried. "The bridge has been opened. His Hunter is in danger."

Zachariah's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's not possible," he exclaimed. "The boys haven't reached the age of ten yet!"

Another scream of pain escaped Castiel's lips as he shook violently in his mother's arms.

"He said he needed to protect Dean," Audrey explained. "When the bridge is made, the children have to be together! That's how it's supposed to work!"

Zachariah was quiet as he studied the shaking Castiel.

"You know it is against protocol to bring them together so young, Audrey," he murmured, but there was a defeated air in his voice. "The Order has been debating though about the strict age limits, and I feel this may be the case to bring their bickering to an end."

Zachariah walked over to Castiel and placed a withered hand upon his damp hair. His shaking ceased immediately, and he looked up into Zachariah's face with bloodshot eyes.

"Please take me to him," Castiel begged quietly.

Zachariah hesitated, then said "Very well."

Audrey released a breath she didn't know she had been holding and smiled at her son.

"Sweetie, get dressed while I talk with Zachariah, alright?"

The pain hadn't ceased completely in Castiel's head, but Zachariah had alleviated it enough. With still trembling legs, Castiel removed himself from his bed, grabbed an already folded pile of clothes off his laundry basket, and padded into the bathroom that connected his bedroom to his mother's.

"Am I going to see him again?" Audrey murmured.

"I can't answer that," replied Zachariah. "We've never had a bridge between an Angel and a Hunter establish itself this early, but they're not permitted into the training compounds until they're 10 years old. That's how the law goes."

"You said Castiel and Dean could be the case to make the Order change their minds."

Zachariah shook his head. "It takes a lot of power to change Angelic laws, Audrey. If the Order hadn't already been debating this sort of thing, there would be nothing I could do."

"What if they both remained here, in the Omaha compound, until they were of age?" Audrey asked hopefully. "It wouldn't go against the training compound age restrictions, and it would give the boys extra time to connect with each other."

"If you had proposed that idea six months ago, nobody would have listened to you," Zachariah said. "But since the War against Lucifer has gotten worse, the Order is desperate for a new course of action with the Angels and Hunters."

"From what Castiel saw, Dean and his family were attacked by a yellow-eyed demon. That immediately puts him into the protective custody of the Order anyway, so why not have him live here?"

Zachariah mulled over what Audrey pointed out. "I will see what I can do."

Castiel stumbled out of the bathroom, dressed in denim jeans, a white T-shirt, and a tan trench coat. He walked uneasily over to Zachariah's side and smiled at his mother, faint crinkles forming in the sides of his deep blue eyes.

"Be safe, sweetheart," Audrey said, tears forming in her eyes again. Zachariah grabbed Castiel by the shoulder and in a gust of wind the two were gone.

Castiel squeezed his eyes shut as a spinning sensation overtook his senses, Zachariah's strong grip on his shoulder, then everything was still. The sound of sirens roared past him as he opened his eyes and took in the scene before him.

The two of them stood a block away from the house he recognized from his nightmare, and it glowed vibrantly, lighting up the entire neighborhood with orange light. The entire building was consumed in flames, and firefighters blasted water from their hoses into the broken windows. The smell of the fire hung in the air, a smoke that reminded Castiel of utter destruction and hopelessness.

Unable to control himself, Castiel's weary legs walked along the broken sidewalk toward the house as if he were being pulled by a rope through the crowd of onlookers gathered densely behind yellow police tape, all of them still dressed in their pajamas and night robes. He elbowed his way through the audience, Zachariah following closely behind, toward the source of the pull he felt in his stomach. When he finally broke through, he recognized his Hunter immediately.

He sat in the back of an ambulance, a breather held to his mouth, and ash coating his tear stained face and dark blond hair. Next to him sat the little boy from Castiel's nightmare, his younger brother. He had a breather held to his face as well. Both were dressed in their pajamas which were coated in ash too. The man with the dark hair and scruff, their father, was nowhere to be seen.

Just being this close to him, Castiel could feel the strength returning to his body, could feel the emotions radiating from the boy, much stronger, he noted, than the connection he had with his mother. The fear and sadness swirled around him in a dense cloud that seeped into Castiel's stomach and made him nauseous. He felt Zachariah's hand on his shoulder.

"It's always overwhelming the first time, Castiel," he murmured. "Take some deep breaths and regain yourself before you approach him."

Castiel nodded and forced his legs to take root into the ground as he watched his Hunter from a distance.

Dean Winchester.

The name appeared in his mind like a whisper, and it sent an involuntary shudder down his spine. The boy next to him was his brother, Sam, but Dean was lost in the tormented vortex of his own mind.

Dean knew both of their parents were gone. The scream he heard was his mother's, and his father… the house burned too brightly for him to delude himself into believing he had escaped. He and Sam were orphans now.

Castiel took a brave step forward and began to close the distance between himself and his Hunter, each step filling his body with strength he had never possessed before, and an overwhelming desire to protect the boy in front of him.

Dean's eyes floated upwards and locked onto a policeman coming in his direction. He glared. He didn't want to talk to him. Castiel was only a few feet away now, and he held up his hand to the policeman who looked at him quizzically.

"Leave him alone," Castiel said, the strength returning to his voice as well as the rest of his body. The policeman stared for a second, blinked, and turned to walk back in the direction he had come from. Castiel lowered his hand, his eyes turning to face Dean. This close, he could see his vibrant green eyes and the freckles littered across his confused face as he stared at Castiel.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Castiel hesitated. "My name is Castiel," he began. "And I'm the one to protect you."

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**And there you have it, the very first chapter! Reviews are always welcomed and loved, so please leave one if you can. If you haven't yet, go to my profile and check out the amazing trailer for this story. See you guys soon!**


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